From: "Mark Johnson"
Subject: [consim-l] Victory at Normandy [Attactix]
Ever since I read Norm Smith's review of the Attactix game about the
Normandy invasion (http://www.btinternet.com/~norm.smith/normandy.html), I
became interested in this series of wargames. As far as I understand, it's a
half-dozen introductory/simple/short wargames published in the early 80s by
the company that used to be the UK branch of SPI. Just like Avalon Hill's
Smithsonian series covers notable WW2 battles showcasing American
forces--plus Gettysburg, the Attactix games cover notable WW2 battles
showcasing British forces--plus Waterloo (and one science fiction title that
doesn't fit the pattern).
I'm enjoying a relaxing vacation with the family in the mountains, and today
I had the chance to play a solo game of Victory at Waterloo when we weren't
riding bicycles or going to the pool. I consider myself to know what
makes a good short wargame, or at least I have some distinct opinions about
it. My knowledge of military history is fragmentary & limited in depth,
though, relying mostly on The History Channel, S&T articles, and those
military atlases always on supersale at Barnes & Noble. I'll describe the
game as best I can, and perhaps some of you more experienced folks can
comment on it.
Victory at Waterloo has a two-piece mounted gameboard and 100 counters, but
only 47 are combat units, with another 7 used as markers (5 more markers in
a variant). There are no counters for leaders (or indeed any leader rules at
all). The map is 12 x 24 hexes, from Vieux Amis/Le Mesnil in the north,
Placenoit/Maransart in the south, Braine L'Alleud on the west, and
Lasne/Ohain on the east. A ground scale isn't given, but it's three hexes
from La Haye Sainte to Hougomont, or four to Mont St Jean. There are up to
ten turns in the game, each representing one hour from noon to 9pm on June
18th.
The French have 19 units totalling 45 combat points, the British have 20
totalling 30, all starting on the board. The Prussians bring another 7 units
totalling 13 combat points. The onus is on the French to attack, since they
start the game down a little on morale for losing La Haye Sainte, and
they'll lose if they merely trade units or hexes with the opponent.
The rules are printed in very small print, fitting easily on three pages,
with illustrations & examples, plus a fourth page of optional rules. It's
got some of the usual introductory comments to wade through (e.g. move all
of your pieces on your turn, what the hexgrid is for...), but nothing too
onerous. Movement rates feel generous--6 for cav, 4 for infantry, and 3 for
artillery, with most of the map permitting 1 MP per hex through clear,
hills/ridges, and trails. (There are a few roads where the movement cost is
halved, but it gets gummed up there by combat anyway.) Forests & rivers
prevent some obstacle, but there's usually a trail or bridge. What really
limits movement are the locking zones of control (without using the term
ZOC). And no stacking. At all. (I'm expecting lots of shrieks there...)
Combat resolution is by differential, not an odds ratio, and reminds me of
those Smithsonian games: add up attacker combat values, subtract defender
combat values, apply terrain modifier (if any, such as -2 across a river),
add a 1d6 roll, and look up the result. Attackers retreat on a final result
of -1 to +4, and defenders retreat on +5 to +10. Above and below those are
eliminations, quite hard to come by. The winner of combat may advance into a
vacated hex, even if it's the defender that won. Combat is mandatory except
for units defending a chateau (sort of, see below) or town.
The victory conditions are a synthesis of morale/attrition and location
objectives. Both sides have a morale track that is decremented when they
take losses or opponents take key objectives (like Mt St Jean for the
French, or Placenoit for the British/Prussian Coalition). Morale can rebound
a little if defenders retake a town, but the effects of attrition are
permanent. If a side starts their turn with morale sufficiently reduced,
they're said to be "demoralised." In game terms that means they cannot
advance after combat. It takes quite a bit of fighting to get to that point,
but once you do the next notable event isn't far off: army "disintegration,"
which means your units can no longer move into enemy zones of control. A
little further is "rout" which immediately loses the game for that side.
Note that routs are only considered for the French & British (Prussians
don't matter?), only the British army can be disintegrated, while all three
can be demoralized.
Those Prussians, by the way, tiptoe onto the map during turn 3, arriving in
force (I guess) on turns 5 and 6.
The rules about the chateaus are strange, and someone that really knows this
battle will have to explain what the designers were trying to do here. There
are two, Hougomont and La Haye Sainte, initially occupied by the British.
Towns give a -1 combat modifier, while the chatueas give a whopping -4 . . .
but only to a 1-strength infantry unit. Everyone else must defend from a
chateau as if it were a clear hex. Likewise, defenders in a chateau aren't
required to attack adjacent enemies and they ignore Defender Retreat
results, but only if those defenders are a 1-strength infantry unit.
I assume the chateaus just aren't large enough to afford protection to any
larger unit (including 1-strength cavalry or artillery). The British begin
the game in possession of both chateaus, having the good sense to pack them
with those 1-strength infantry, and it takes some real effort by the French
to dislodge them. The rules limit the max combat differential to +6
(attacker-defender), then apply the -4 terrain modifier, and add 1d6. Not
even rolling a 6 will get you to the 11 total needed to eliminate the
defenders (and remember they ignore retreats). In fact, they only way to do
it is with a wrinkle (deliberate, I believe) in the combat results table: if
you get an Attacker Retreat (-1 to +4 result) when you roll a 1 on the die,
the attacker may CHOOSE an Exchange, eliminating all defenders then enough
attacks to match combat factor. That's the only way to get an exchange, in
fact.
The net result is that it doesn't take brute strength to take a chateau, it
takes persistence. As few as 3 attacking combat factors can do it, but you
need to roll a 1 on the die. If you DON'T go in with strength, each "miss"
will probably result in an Attacker Retreat result. Bringing more firepower
will mean Defender Retreat results that are ignored, but at least you don't
have to back off.
One more oddity about the chateau combats: the French must destroy the
British defenders to take them, but the French don't have any 1-strength
infantry units that can defend their prize so well! Even the British only
have one "spare" 1-strength unit besides the two that start the game in the
chateaus. (The Prussians have one more.) There are many times the French or
British would love to detach part of a larger infantry unit to defend the
chateau, but there are no rules for it. Make sense? Was that beyond the
capability of battlefield command in this battle?
Consequently, if/when the initial British defenders are eliminated from
their chateaus, neither side has the ability to easily withstand a
counterattack. Since these locations are important as victory locations
(particularly La Haye Sainte), there's a lot of seesaw battles over them.
Victory is determined by the morale of the armies after the game's 10th
turn, unless the French or British rout before then. The French cannot
achieve any form of victory if they're demoralized, and even then they must
demoralize both of the opposing armies (or disintegrate the British).
Everything else is a Coalition victory of some kind, a Tactical one unless
the British are effectively untouched (in which case they achieve a
Strategic victory).
The optional rules are almost all interesting:
* Cavalry: no combat benefit when defending a town, may disengage ZOC
(against inf/art only), may refuse combat (giving up a hex against inf/art
only), may retreat up to 2 hexes.
* Artillery: may bombard with range 2 attacks over intervening clear hexes
(even if occupied), normal combat rules (except Attacker Elim/Retreat are
ignored)
* Command Control: a simplistic limit on the number of units that can be
moved each turn, from 5 French/2 British at the game's outset, to 10
French/8 British/All Prussian on the final turn. (I didn't like the sound of
this for my game, though I'm not sure it would've mattered much as I moved
only some of my units each turn anyway.)
* Old Guard: To reflect the historic use of Napoleon's Guard units (rather
than the simpler use of them at the vanguard of every attack), the morale
rules are tweaked. Instead of the fixed points on the morale track where the
various armies are demoralised, other counters are used. Now every Attacker
Retreat that a Guard unit receives causes the French "demoralised" and
"rout" markers to inch closer by one space . . . and the British/Prussian
markers to move one space farther.
In my solo game, I left out the Command Control and Old Guard optional rules
(and missed the one about cavalry in a town). The French won a Strategic
victory by routing the British just before the Prussians really entered the
map. After all, that was Napoleon's task, wasn't it? The Old Guard optional
rule would've made this victory much more difficult, so I'll try that next.
Frankly, I sort of expected this game to have a British-bias, having heard
that about another Attactix game. Maybe not.
As I explained above, the chateaus were the focus of the early fighting,
with La Haye Sainte trading hands a few times before the French finally
secured it. Hougomont took a little longer, with the Guards moving in around
3pm. Both sides had some success on their right flanks, the French taking
the towns of Fichermont, Smohain, and Papelotte, sending Wellington's troops
backpedaling toward Mt St Jean. Meanwhile, the British punished some French
cavalry that ventured too far, then almost rolled up that flank to Mon
Plaisir before Napoleon plugged the gap. The French split off two units of
cavalry, plus one infantry unit to blunt the Prussian advance.
By 4pm the French had taken both chatueas, inflicting more damage than
they'd taken, and the writing was on the wall. One more big push in the
following turn (including two lucky rolls for Exchanges) took a couple more
towns and routed the British just as Blucher was to arrive.
-Mark